The Speed of Sound
by karrenia
Summary: A look at the relationship and interaction between Matt Parkman and Daphne Millford


Disclaimer: Heroes is the creation of Tim Kring and NBC Television: it is not mine. The story references events post the finale of

season 2 and shortly before the finale of Season 3.

"The Speed of Sound" by Karen

The unbearable weirdness of being; it's a phrase that Matt Parkman recalled Mohinder Suresh once used to explain how a stellar phenomenon could have made such a drastic impact on the lives of so many people across the face of the planet in general, and in particular the life of an ex-cop from Los Angeles. It had forced him to rethink the relative narrow definition of the word 'normal' in ways that he never would have believed possible. Normal was so gone even though he had been trying to regain a little 'normality; in his life.

He had tried that phrase on for size and he had discovered that he liked it. It a much neater and elegant way of expressing how much difficult he is having sorting out his own thoughts and feelings on what the discovery of his own powers is doing to his life and the lives of those around him.

Matt liked the phrase because most importantly months and miles apart from all Mohinder and Kirby Plaza and the night New York City had almost but not quite been blown to kingdom come some buried but lingering memories float up from the corners of his mind where he kept such categorized.

Given the nature of his own abilities; it's the only way to keep it, "It", being his own sanity.

Speaking of a keeping things together Matt is no longer or perhaps it would be better to say as concerned with attempting to find a logical means to explain what he had almost literally stumbled upon during his 'vision quest' or whatever had happened to him. And the weirdness thing of it all, it it had been pretty trippy to borrow another eccentric phrase, his questing spirit, his companion, had been a turtle of all things.

Dream, vision quest, out of body experience, or some kind of lengthy but quite vivid hallucination brought on by and overdose of drugs; at this point Matt did not really give a damn: but that turtle and the lacerations of both body and mind were hard honest to goodness evidence in the waking world that what he had experienced and learned were real.

Matt was and in some ways even though he now longer had his badge or the jurisdiction was a cop at heart with a cop's instincts and training.

Common sense had been yelling in his ear telling him that love at first sight was something best left to the airport terminal and grocery paper back novel shelves; but seeing the woman from his vision quest in the flesh made over into a real living breathing person;

Matt that the law of the unbearable weirdness of being was at work once again.

It had taken a lot of work, and stumbling through much compromise, and arguments to convince Daphne that they were meant to be together. For her part Daphne, the proverbial hare to his turtle.

"You could not have found a fitter and more succinct metaphor for our relationship even if you tried. It should not have worked out, the odds, the timing, the direction our lives were going, and yet, against all odds. It did."

Humming under his breath Matt bent over and placed a wadded up packet of lettuce and other greens into the carrying case that he used to house the turtle, perched high up on a shelf in the small apartment that he had once shared with Mohinder Suresh.

A wisp and a sudden disturbance in the air and the hint of whatever perfume Daphne currently preferred this week wars his first clue that she had returned from her latest courier assignment.

"Finished already," she announced as she came up beside him and stood on tip-toe by his left shoulder as her hands came up to brush playfully through his short brown hair. "Hi, you."

"Hi, back. It's only noon. I thought it would take you until at least mid-afternoon before you were finished."

"Well," Daphne replied, "That's where the beauty part comes into play of being a speedster. I can get all gigs down in record time, get some R an& R in and still have time to shop." Daphne stopped and turned around to look askance at the sparse furnishings of the small apartment. " I mean, just look at this place!"

Matt laughed and nodded in agreement thinking as he did so, 'Weirdness is as weirdness does.' Aloud. "I guess, you're right. We could use a little, well, I don't know. What did you have in mind?" Matt could read minds, but he had also come to the realization that trying to anticipate a woman and her shopping, well; he would much prefer to not go there.

Daphne grinned. "That's the spirit!"


End file.
